The object of the present invention is to provide an improved, simplified and relatively inexpensive means for supporting and effectively sealing window panes and other panels which may be exposed on one side to the weather.
Elastomeric strips of various cross-sectional configurations have been employed in the past to retain and seal window panes, fill-in panels and the like in the window openings and equivalent retaining frames of buildings. In modern building construction wherein the openings are employed with fixed sash and infill panels which normally remain permanently in place unless replacement becomes necessary due to breakage, it has become important, particularly in view of the extensive use of glass, to provide glazing means which is relatively low in cost, but which is neat in appearance, compact, so that interruption of the glass surface of multipaned installations is minimized, and which is effective in its sealing function but which nevertheless permits ready removal and replacement of broken panes.
Typical prior art solutions to problems of the indicated nature have involved either the use of a sealant on one side of the window pane and an elastomeric retainer on the other side, or a single elastomeric retainer which embraces the edge and extends over both sides of the panel. The former class of glazing system depends for its effectiveness to a very substantial degree upon the effectiveness and long-term stability of the sealant. The other type, using a single elastomeric retainer embracing both sides of the light normally requires separate clamping means for effective sealing, and removal and replacement of a broken pane is frequently difficult or infeasible when necessary to work from the side opposite that from which the unit was installed. The present invention aims to provide an improved system overcoming the indicated and other problems, wherein separate but similar elastomeric stops are employed both exteriorly and interiorly of the pane, no sealant being required, and the arrangement being such that the pane, although effectively held, is readily removable and replaceable either from inside or outside the building.
Another object is to provide such a system which is relatively low in cost and quick and easy to install.
Another object is to provide such a system which constitutes an improvement upon the system disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,948, entitled "Glazing System", and issued Nov. 12, 1974.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon consideration of the present disclosure in its entirety.